Do you think clearly when you are under stress? (126-2)

Leaders are under immense pressure to identify and solve problems and can reach high levels of stress quickly. Effective leaders learn how to manage the stress. Read Psalm 23.

Psalm 23 is a profession by David of joyful trust in the one true God as the good Shepherd-King. Psalm 23 gives testimony that David had discovered the difference between problems and facts. Problems are something a leader can solve but a fact is something only God can do something about. Problems put a leader into action but a fact needs to be acknowledged and moved into the “trust the one true God” category.

David indicated to us in Psalm 23 that a leader’s core beliefs and understanding about God’s role in their life and their role in God’s service is the greatest stress reliever on earth. A situation isn’t really a problem that should create stress on a leader unless there is something a leader can do about the situation. Effective leaders understand that they can’t solve situations that can’t be solved; therefore they entrust those situations to God and don’t spend time thinking about them.

One of the first and most effective steps in stress management is to define and analyze the situation. If the root of this situation is something a leader can do something about stress is relieved by developing a plan to solve the problem. In this case taking action relieves stress. If the root of the situation is something a leader can do nothing about because it is a fact of life taking action creates stress. If it isn’t the leader’s problem to solve then giving the problem to God in prayer, not action, relieves stress.

When you are stressed out do you seek to determine if you are dealing with a problem or a fact, or do you treat them both as if you should be able to solve them? Stress tends to sneak up on a leader in such a way that it looks like every situation falls under their responsibility. The next time you feel stress rising to a level that is taking over your world stop long enough to evaluate the “fact/problem” issue.